This invention relates to a refrigerator door opening/closing apparatus which can both open and close a door without effort and can automatically close the refrigerator door by the user's light pushing movement.
As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, a conventional refrigerator door opening/closing apparatus comprises a hinge member 3 fixed to the side of the refrigerator for rotatably connecting a refrigerator door 1 to a refrigerator cabinet 2, a stopper 4a fixed to the cabinet 2 and extending forward toward the door 1, and an U-shaped member 4b for flexibly receiving and releasing the stopper 4a.
By using such a flexible combination structure of the stopper 4a and the U-shaped member 4b, the stopper 4a formed at the cabinet 2 is tightly inserted into the U-shaped member 4b when the door 1 is closed, and removed from the U-shaped member 4b when the door 1 is opened.
Accordingly, the user must not only apply a force greater than the engaging force between the stopper 4a and the U-shaped member 4b to open the door 1, but also must push the door 1 to the end until the stopper 4a is surely inserted into the U-shaped member 4b to completely close the door 1.
Therefore, the conventional refrigerator door opening/closing apparatus has disadvantages in that operation of opening and closing the door 1 is carried out with great effort.
Another conventional door opening/closing apparatus for solving the above problem is disclosed by Japanese Utility Model Laid Open No. 60-12179.
That door opening/closing apparatus, as shown in FIGS. 5A-5B and 6A-6C comprises a hinge member 3 fixed to the lower side of a refrigerator cabinet 2 for rotatably supporting a door 1, an upper member 5 having a slanted surface 5a at its bottom and the top of which is fixed to the door 1, and a lower member 6 having a slanted surface 6a corresponding to the slanted surface 5a of the upper member 5 at its top and the bottom of which is fixed to the hinge member 3. A hinge shaft 7 passes through the hollow centers of the upper and lower members 5, 6 for rotatably connecting the door 1 to the hinge member 3.
In such a conventional door opening/closing apparatus, when the door 1 is rotated with respect to the hinge shaft 7 to be open, the upper member 5 fixed to the door 1 is slid upward along the slanted surface 6a of the lower member 6, so that the door 1 is opened while moving slightly in an upward direction as shown in FIG. 5B.
If the user then lightly pushes the door 1 in reverse to close the door 1, the slanted surface 5a of the upper member 5 is slid downward along the slanted surface 6a of the lower member 6, so that the door 1 is automatically closed.
However, the door opening/closing apparatus can cause inconveniences in the operation of a refrigerator because when the door 1 is initially opened, relatively greater initial force must be applied to the door 1 in order that the upper member 5 is slid upward along the slanted surface 6a of the lower member 6.
Further, the pressure differential between the outside and inside of a refrigerator, due to a negative pressure on the inside of the refrigerator and the magnetic force by a magnet attached to the inner side of the door 1, adds additionally to the above initial force, requiring much greater initial force for opening the door 1.
Accordingly, because of the initial force, the conventional refrigerator door opening/closing apparatus is unsuitable for a large-sized refrigerator.
The object of this invention is to solve the above problems by providing a refrigerator door opening/closing apparatus which can both open and close a door effortlessly and can automatically close the refrigerator door by the user's light pushing movement.